Inflammation is a complex process initiated by tissue damage. Although inflammation has evolved as a protective response against injury and infection, in certain cases such as, but not limited to, immune-mediated inflammation, osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, glomerulonephritis, cystitis and colitis inflammation itself is the problem. In these cases, the inflammatory response continues and can be only temporarily modified by the administration of anti-inflammatory agents such as aspirin, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and cortisone. These drugs act on the metabolic pathways involved in the elaboration and activation of the pharmacological mediators of inflammation. However, these anti-inflammatory agents have numerous undesirable side effects, and cannot be tolerated by certain individuals.
Therefore, there is a continuing need for novel therapeutic agents that reduce inflammation without having deleterious side effects. Moreover, such therapeutic agents should be simple and relatively inexpensive to prepare, their activity should be reproducible among preparations, their activity should remain stable over time, and their anti-inflammatory effects should be achievable with dose regimens that are associated with minimal toxicity.